The Yeomen of the Guard

Tonight, Will and I ate at the Impy and then went to see "The Yeomen of the Guard" at the Northcott Theatre. In many ways, this was the perfect British outing: eating at a typical British pub and going to a classic British musical. At the pub, we ate three bean chili with french fries and rice and shared some mint chocolate ice cream for dessert. Afterwards, we hiked up the hill to the theatre and collected our tickets, which we got for free under the "under 26 free tickets program." We got really good seats, in the center and only about five rows back from the stage.

The play was put on by the university's Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and it was a really enjoyable experience.  The play itself is a typical Gilbert and Sullivan production, filled with sudden romance and hidden identity. Though there were numerous flaws in the acting and music, and the performance did not rise to the level of professionalism of the plays put on by The University of Alabama's theater department, there were no forgotten lines or major problems with clarity of spoken or sung words. The worst bit of the performance, unfortunately, was the overture. The orchestra clearly had not practiced it as much as they should have, and it brought the play to a shaky start. Nevertheless, the performance quickly recovered when the acting began, and the set and costumes were great. During the intermission, a few of the yeomen mingled with the crowd, so we got to see their costumes really close up. 

I am quite glad that we were able to go, and I hope we will make it to a few more plays before leaving the country.